Reverse Brain Drain to India and China

America is a great place to start a company, there are no questions about that, and when Governments were busy making it harder to start a company, many immigrants came to America. Reports state that 52% of all Silicon Valley companies were started by Immigrants, and we have HP and Google as prime examples of this trend. The problem is, it is now more advantageous for folks to go back to China, India and Europe rather than sticking around in America starting companies. This is a huge problem that is not being addressed and needs to be. Regardless of what people think of immigration, illegal or legal, we are a nation of immigrants. We came to this country to have a different life with the possibility of success that our grandparents and parents could not have otherwise. You can take a look at any industry and find that some of the greatest people in those industries were immigrants directly or the children of immigrants. We are who we are because of the dynamics of immigration and the possibility of anything. What is the problem now is that we are not graduating enough computer science, information systems, and information security people in this country. For whatever reason, not enough people are going into the computer science trades to fill the work that is available. Even now with the recession forcing cutbacks in everything, and not always to the benefit of the companies that are doing the cutbacks, we are not getting enough people into the computer science trade, or even the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math’s) to fill the needs that this country has. We count on a large number of foreign nationals coming to this country, falling in love with it, and staying to start their company and raising a family. Unfortunately, people are starting to think that this is still a great place to go to school, but not a such a great place to stay and start a company. Even with the proposed
founder’s visa, this is not enough to address the issues that we need to address on the national/federal level. We need a solid core of STEM Graduates to fill the needs of a 21rst century country. While we founder, other countries are taking the lead in STEM and advancing technology. Of all the things we cannot afford, losing our countries technological edge is dancing with disaster. We need foreign nationals in our colleges, and in our companies, and running companies to help keep us on the cutting edge of technology. It is not that Americans are bad at this, is that they are not going into STEM programs. We also need to address why students are not going into STEM, and start beefing up enrollments and graduates. What we need is an open dialog and that dialog has started with Techcrunch.

Many students wanted to stay for a few years after graduation if given a choice—58% of Indians, 54% of Chinese, and 40% of Europeans. But they see the future being brighter back home. Only 7% of Chinese students, 9% of European students, and 25% of Indian students believe that the best days of the U.S. economy lie ahead. Conversely, 74% of Chinese students and 86% of Indian students believe that the best days for their home country’s economy lie ahead. National Science Foundation studies have shown that the “5 year stay rates” for Chinese and Indians science and engineering PhD’s have historically been around 92 % and 85% respectively (NSF tracks these 5 years at a time and the vast majority stay permanently). So something has clearly changed. Source:
Techcrunch

This is not about educational reform, this is not about immigration reform, and this is not about the general lifestyle of Americans right now. What this is about is where we are going to go as a country, and where we see our futures being. While the country is divided and we have not risen to the technological challenges that face us, we continue to graduate people who will not stay, will not fill jobs, and will not advance the country ahead technologically. It is a lot like watching Rome burn as the barbarians cross the hills; we have lost the dynamism that we need to keep ahead of the game. If there is a brighter future in India or China, what is to stop Naturalized Americans from going there and making their names and their fortunes? Nothing,
American’s are also leaving the country and going somewhere else, mostly to
Europe, but India and China are also high on the list of destinations to go do something different. We need to address the processes that involve people leaving the USA and taking their good patentable ideas with them. We need to address this at a national level and make America one of the best places on earth to start a company, raise a family, and be a scientist. Tags: STEM, education, science, technology, immigration, recession, math